My son asked a question at dinner tonight - "when are we (humans) going to Mars?" A very good question with no definite answer. I explained how difficult & expensive it is to send humans into space. The Apollo Moon program of the 1960's was an incredible feat of engineering and daring. Different times. Today - if we spent the same amount of money - people could be exploring Mars before the end of the decade (I explained). My son answered "but we don't have the money?" Well we do have the money. Our priorities are different (unfortunately). NASA has sent many successful robotic missions - including the Curiosity super-rover that landed a few months ago. Robots are relatively inexpensive and can do great science. However - 50 robot missions to Mars would not even come close to the amount of discovery that a single manned mission would/could accomplish.
Why go to Mars in the first place? Mars was once a warm/wet planet like Earth. It's the most earth-like planet in the Solar System. Now Mars is very, very cold & overall drier than the Sahara desert here on Earth. What happened? Did life have time to evolve? Is there still some kind of life on Mars (I say 99.9% chance YES!)? By exploring other planets we learn so much about US and this planet that most people just don't get.
The most commonly heard criticism about the space program is that we should "spend our money" here on Earth. That money IS spent here on Earth. Employing thousands of high-tech positions creating cutting-edge technologies. The United States - and the World - has benefited immensely because of the space program. PC's; most modern electronics; the Internet; medicines; transportation etc. would not currently exist if not for our space program. The $$$ payout was/is in the billions. The payback? Direct/indirect In the TRILLIONS.
Why go to Mars in the first place? Mars was once a warm/wet planet like Earth. It's the most earth-like planet in the Solar System. Now Mars is very, very cold & overall drier than the Sahara desert here on Earth. What happened? Did life have time to evolve? Is there still some kind of life on Mars (I say 99.9% chance YES!)? By exploring other planets we learn so much about US and this planet that most people just don't get.
The most commonly heard criticism about the space program is that we should "spend our money" here on Earth. That money IS spent here on Earth. Employing thousands of high-tech positions creating cutting-edge technologies. The United States - and the World - has benefited immensely because of the space program. PC's; most modern electronics; the Internet; medicines; transportation etc. would not currently exist if not for our space program. The $$$ payout was/is in the billions. The payback? Direct/indirect In the TRILLIONS.
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